


Pure Art

by marianhenryk



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, And like, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Bottom Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Sex, M/M, Reddie, Reddie Fic, Reddie Fluff, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Sex, Smut, Soft Richie Tozier, The Losers Club, Thrift Shop, Top Eddie Kaspbrak, a lot of fluff, artsy!richie, because Richie is a little shit, but in later chapters, cursing, i'll tell ya don't worry, photographer!eddie, reddie fanfction, reddie smut, they are 20 someting in it, what to tag more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-12-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 16:19:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15513714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marianhenryk/pseuds/marianhenryk
Summary: "...And in that moment, the exact moment the duo finished their cigarettes and started walking away, Eddie wished he had taken his camera with him. The boy would make such a perfect model, his angular face and the patterns he was covered in (oh the patterns!). He was sitting there and looking at the awfully dressed boy leaving the park, crossing the street while laughing and that’s when it hit him."Fuck," Eddie muttered and frantically jumped to his feet…”Photographer!Eddie and Artsy!Richie





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So! This is my first BIG fic like that and I hope I won't fuck it up haha  
> Hope you like it too!!!  
> Proof-read by amazing @fuckboykaspbrak on tumblr!

At this point Eddie couldn't do much to dodge getting kicked out from college. He was officially fucked and nothing could change that. It was the last day to do something and he didn’t have a single picture for his portfolio that he had to turn in before midnight. It's not like he didn't try, not at all- he had actually spent the last month working really hard, driving to different places that had their place on "The Most Beautiful Places Near You" list on Buzzfeed but all of the photos were dull, plain, not photography-master worthy. He even went as far as attending special classes with models and all that- nothing. 

He was stuck in the worst way possible, his camera was laying on the bedside table, laughing at him because he couldn't even do the thing he was supposed to be the best at- that's how useless he was. His mind was blank like a sheet of paper, not one idea how to rescue himself from this situation appeared so he decided to just give up. After all, what exactly could he do? Take some shitty pictures and put them into his portfolio? Into the thing he was the most passionate about and cared so much that it wasn't even started, because he was so afraid of fucking it up? I don't think so. 

It was Tuesday and he woke up later than usual, heavy feeling in his chest and head swarming with doubt and anger at himself that he had no idea what to do with. It wasn't normal for him, he was always the most organized person in the group, his homework was always the first to be turned it, he just hated being late or last. But now? He felt like a completely different person, his vision blurring from unshed tears as he sat in the middle of his makeshift bed. He hated feeling so useless and powerless. 

That's why he decided to channel all this bad energy into something and went out for a long, exhaustingly fast run. He put on some shorts and a hoodie, not sure if the weather was warm enough for him to run in a t-shirt and went out. He was running and running, his feet burning and chest heaving with desperate breaths until he couldn't think of anything else than not collapsing. It was brutal but it was the only way to take his mind off college, off photography, off life that has been treating him like a piece of shit for the last few months. 

First, his boyfriend of two years broke up with him, then his mother decided to show up out of nowhere and bug him for almost three weeks and now he was going to fail his classes for the first time in forever. Because of all of this his mental health was on a really low level and running was the only thing keeping him sane. 

Back when he was younger and still living with his mom, he would sneak out of his room through the window at really early hours and go for a run. Sonia wasn't really supporting of her precious son participating in any sports, she was always worried sick about him getting injured or catching a cold- that's why he had to keep it a secret. It wasn't only a sport back then and now too, running was like breathing to him. 

After an hour he finally stopped in the middle of some park, not really knowing where he was. He was there almost alone, given everyone was either working or in school. The birds were chirping happily, warm wind blew straight into his face and sun was making him sweat. It truly was a beautiful day to go through an emotional crisis. 

Eddie decided to spend some time there. He sat down on one of the benches and started looking around, observing the few people wandering around. There was a pregnant woman walking her dog that Eddie found incredibly adorable (it was a Golden Retriever, his favorite breed), few feet away a girl was reading some book and then there was a couple of teenagers, or maybe young adults, sitting on a bench in skate park and smoking cigarettes. 

The latter caught Eddie's eye for a little longer. One of them was a cute, redheaded girl with short hair and a lot of freckles all over her body. She was wearing black shorts and some t-shirt and looked totally normal compared to her friend. 

The friend was a boy, a really tall and lanky one with dark, curly hair that was messily pulled into a bun at the top of his head, it made his ears stick out a little and already sharp jawline and cheekbones stand out even more. He was wearing a baby blue shirt with a print of Hawaiian flowers, a lot of necklaces decorating the expanse of his chest that was uncovered by the shirt (it had first three buttons undone and Eddie felt his heart race and he wasn't so sure if running was the cause). The better half of his legs were uncovered by black shorts he was wearing, his skin was sun kissed and bruised with all kinds of scratches here and there. He had some colorful band aids covering bigger injuries, but the boy was sitting too far away and Eddie couldn't tell what was on them. He had Vans sneakers on and the most ridiculous, colorful socks Eddie had ever seen. The most hipster thing about him was, however, his colorful tattoos covering his calves and arms, giving him a look of a total disaster, collage of different patterns and colors. 

Eddie was truly taken aback. He was just awestruck, the boy before him was truly a piece of art, Eddie felt almost as if he was looking at some kind of unrealistic painting, he couldn't quite understand if he was appealed by what he saw or maybe shocked (or a mixture of both?). It was the weirdest feeling, all the things he felt when he looked at him, his heart clenching and eyes watering, it was just something else. 

And in that moment, the exact moment the duo finished their cigarettes and started walking away, Eddie wished he had taken his camera with him. The boy would make such a perfect model, his angular face and the patterns he was covered in (oh the patterns!). He was sitting there and looking at the awfully dressed boy leaving the park, crossing the street while laughing and that's when it hit him. 

"Fuck," Eddie muttered and frantically jumped to his feet, running as fast as his exhausted body let him. He knew what he had to do, that if he wanted to be a photographer he had to do crazy things, get out of his comfort zone. But this? It was total madness, he had never seen this person before and he was going to ask him to what, model for him? Changing all the plans he had for the day because Eddie found him so fucking fascinating? 

He was behind the couple in a flash, his feet carrying him at a light speed towards his newfound muse. He crossed the street while still running, not even stopping to check if any car was going his way. There were some curses thrown his way and cars stopping abruptly but he couldn't care less. 

"Wait!" he screamed desperately. The couple stopped, not exactly sure who the voice was calling, and turned around. They looked taken aback, redhead stared at the boy in confusion, her hand slowly reaching inside her handbag. She probably though Eddie was some kind of psycho, but who wouldn't? His hoodie had big sweat spots all over it, his face was red like a tomato, hands shaking and eyes scanning them both in a nervous manner. But then there was The Boy that cocked his head a bit and bit his lip, looking at Eddie with a glint in his eyes. 

"Yes?" the girl asked, her voice was unsure but stern, body language telling Eddie that she was ready to kick his ass if it was necessary. 

"I, hi. I'm Eddie," he said, still trying to catch his breath and compose himself as much as possible. Redhead raised one of her eyebrows. "Okay, I know it is going to sound insane, but. I'm a photography student, my portfolio is as empty as Satan's heart even though I have to turn it in by midnight and you inspired me," he rushed it all out on one breath while looking at the boy that was still shamelessly checking him out. Eddie felt a crimson blush creep onto his cheeks and stepped nervously from one foot on the other. His fingers were playing with the hem of his shorts. 

"Um, wow, that's...that's nice. We inspired you? How?" the girl spoke again and embarrassment washed over Eddie once more. She tipped her head and sent him encouraging smile that made Eddie a bit more at ease. It was truly strange, he didn't even know her and yet, he felt some peculiar connection. It was like a string attached to both of them that was pulled at, somehow making him feel at home, believing in friendly intentions of her. 

Eddie rubbed the back of his neck, making the hem of his hoodie lift, and exposing a bit of his tanned stomach. He didn't miss the way the curly haired boy glanced at it in a way that made Eddie's cheeks heat up. In his life he had dealt with a good number of fuckboys, so he eventually learned not to be affected by their actions- but this particular boy was different. He had the nerve to make Eddie uncomfortable and it was truly infuriating. 

"Well, not exactly both of you, just him" Eddie answered honestly and pulled his lips into a thin line while the tall boy grinned like a madman. This action only made Eddie's blood boil so he quickly added. "It's your style, or the lack of it- "the girl snorted and elbowed her friend while Eddie was still talking. "-There is something in all the shapes you are wearing and the colors that shouldn't work together, but they somehow do. It's just fascinating, it inspired me, yeah." Eddie stopped talking for a moment to take a deep breath and analyze this ridiculous situation in his head. "And I wanted to ask, would you maybe like to model for me? Just for today, please." 

Eddie felt another dose of shame making its way onto his face and neck when he finished talking and looked the boy straight into eyes. His eyes, oh god. Eddie felt even more emotions swim through him while watching little sprinkles dance in them. 

He normally didn't stutter, nor feel nervous while talking to boys. He hated what was happening to him and mentally punched himself, trying to gather himself. 

"Oh I dunno, Eds," the boy said and oh wow, he hated him even more. Eddie felt like a schoolgirl, all giddy and fascinated by a boy and his eyes, his voice, his clothes, his everything but then there was a burning desire in the pit of his stomach to beat the shit out of him. "You insulted me pretty bad, you know? I'm not sure if I can give you that much of my precious time." 

"Oh, don't be a dick Richard." the girl sighed and rolled her eyes. Now that she wasn't afraid of Eddie stabbing her, she looked so much younger. Her eyes were happy and full of laughter, and mouth quirked into a sly smile. "Your only plan for today was to go thrift shopping. Help him out, maybe your ugly mug could for once save someone, not kill them." 

Eddie couldn't help but let out a gasp of laughter at her words. The girl smiled his way and elbowed Richard once more. The boy, on the other hand, was trying not to give away the amused laugh that sat at the back of his throat. 

"You are hurting me, Bev-" he grasped his shirt where his heart was and gasped theatrically while leaning on her shoulder. She just shrugged and took a step left to get rid of him. Richard pouted at her but then eventually smiled and placed a wet kiss on her cheek. Eddie raised his eyebrow. "-But yeah, I guess I could postpone my shopping spree." 

 

That's how Eddie ended up unlocking his flat with a weird looking guy hot on his heels. Richie, as he asked Eddie to call him, talked all their way there and it was somehow amusing but also frustrating and the shorter boy felt like ripping out his vocal chords. He was starting to regret his stupid decision to chase the boy, but then he remembered how much he needed it and decided to bite his tongue. 

"That's me," Eddie said when he finally opened the door and gestured for Richie to come inside first. 

"Oh whaaat?" the boy whined while looking around and spinning on his heels. Eddie raised his eyebrows in confusion and closed the door behind him. 

"Is something wrong?" he asked, anxiety already creeping on him. He started picking on his nails but quickly stopped, scolding himself mentally. It was a nervous habit he had picked up from one of his friends. 

"It's just so clean. You're like, what, twenty-five?" he talked while walking around the small living room/ bedroom space, picking up different pictures in frames and crunching down to inspect all the trumpery Eddie had collected through years. He didn't really wait for Eddie's response, just continued babbling. "I mean, you should see my flat, it's a disaster," he chuckled to himself. 

Eddie didn't really know what to do with himself while Richie rummaged through his belongings. He turned his head to the left and spotted a camera laying in the middle of his desk, abandoned in last day's rage caused by lack of good material. Nerve endings in his fingers started to tingle a bit when he took a quick glance at the boy that was now talking about all the CD's he owned. Eddie took two big steps, grabbed the camera and quietly, to not startle the boy, came closer, turning the camera on and readying himself to take the first one of many shots this day. 

Richie was sitting on the floor, his long, hairy, tattooed legs crossed at his ankles. His body was crunched over Eddie's stash of CD's, in hands he held Whitney Houston's single "I wanna dance with somebody", his eyes were focused on black letters at the back of it and mouth spread into a relaxed smile. Eddie didn't think twice and snapped a few pictures before Richie, confused by silence in the room, turned around and looked straight into the camera. His mouth opened, showing off his big teeth, and a slight blush bloomed on his cheeks. 

"Oh, you sneaky fucker! I thought we came here for you to change, not take pictures without my consent!" he shrieked while clumsily standing up (Eddie took pictures of it too). Eddie just laughed and put the camera back where it was before. 

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Give me like, five minutes and I'll be back." 

Eddie crossed the room to get to his wardrobe, took out his favorite mom jeans, black t-shirt, matching jean jacket and fresh pair of underwear. He then went to the bathroom, took a brisk shower and changed. He tried to do it as fast as possible, given that it was already 11 a.m. what gave him exactly 13 hours to turn in his portfolio. No biggie. 

He emerged out of the bathroom to run straight into Richie that was standing with his camera, looking through the photos Eddie had taken. When he heard doors opening he looked up and smiled wickedly but the smile was washed off his face the minute he saw Eddie. He blinked a couple times and coughed, trying to compose himself. 

You see, Richie wasn't exactly fond of his own face and body. His pretentious style was just a way to make people look at it rather than at his lanky form or weird teeth. Since he was little everyone had been making fun of him, so he learned how to brush if off and don't care about his looks. It all changed when he came to New York and suddenly sorority girls decided that he was hot. They liked his band t-shirts, his curly hair and his face. But to Richie it all seemed like a crude joke, he was so used to people being awful and making fun of him, that he didn't believe any compliments. 

That's why he stayed in the shadow of his colorful clothes and tattoos, hiding behind a mask of cocky bastard that is so full of himself he rejects every girl that tried to talk to him. And well, he was also a bit more into boys anyway. He liked boobs, of course he did, who didn't? But then he also liked firm muscles and stubble burning him while kissing. He was bi as fuck and proud. 

But his issues with appearance were a bit too much to handle sometimes, so he still didn't want to pursue any relationship, sticking to his friends. And then Eddie happened. He thought that Richie was fascinating and inspiring and honestly? Richie wasn't sure why he decided not to date anyone. From the minute he laid his eyes on Eddie's small, but strong, form he knew that he was something else. And then, then he asked him to model for him and Richie jumped head first into it, not thinking twice. He was sure that it would work out just fine, he would pose like he saw guys in magazines do and it would be good. 

And all at once Eddie started taking pictures of him just existing, living, and it made the anxiety come back. Richie felt himself closing a bit with every passing minute and he was so fucking mad at himself. That's why he decided to check the photos Eddie took, but he didn't really get to see them because Eddie already emerged out of bathroom and looked so, so cute that Richie couldn't help but stare. 

"Let’s go," Eddie mumbled and stormed past Richie.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is just really cute, BUT!!!!!!!! THERE IS A SLIGHT MENTION OF SOME RELIGION NEGATIVITY SOMEONE MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE!!!!! (it really isn't, it just may have come out this way)  
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> (proof-read and corrected by the wonderful @fuckboykaspbrak on tumblr)

“We are going to start here.”

They were somewhere out of town and Richie had lost sense of direction four bus stations ago. Eddie decided that taking a bus instead of taxi was a part of his ‘creative cycle’ (Richie called bullshit on that, but the shorter boy responded only by sticking out his tongue and getting inside the bus) and Richie couldn’t do anything besides following his instructions. It was crowded, with very different people inside. There as a lady with a cat sitting next to a window, throwing stern glances towards her grandson that was playing some game on his phone, then Richie spotted a kissing couple leaning against the doors, giggling about something from time to time, and of course there were kids going home from school.  

Even though there were so many faces he could stare at, his eyes involuntarily wandered towards the smaller boy in front of him. Eddie was standing on a step, clinging tightly to a pipe under bus’s ceiling, a tissue separating his actual hand from it. He seemed completely appalled with the thought of touching it without this barrier and Richie honestly didn’t know if he found it amusing or cute. The gesture somehow screamed “EDDIE” in big, red letters.  

His face and body were relaxed, though. His eyes seemed kind of dozed off, dreaming even, when he watched city streets they were passing. All the buildings were dancing because of the speed and the boy was consumed by it. His other hand twitched almost unnoticeably towards his camera that was hanging off his neck, and Richie smiled softly at that.  

He let his thoughts wander a bit. No matter how much he tried to rationalize the situation, he couldn’t find a single reason for not doing it. He knew how he looked, he knew that he didn’t have any idea about posing and shit like that, but apparently Eddie didn’t care. He liked that. The boy seemed focused on achieving his goals, making his work worth every minute, even if he had to literally move Richie’s limbs around.  

On his face, though, aside from amazement, was something else. The way his stare stopped at a mother crossing the street with a small, blonde boy holding her hand, how his face seemed to get older in the matter of seconds because of this image- those little things told Richie a lot about his new companion.

In his young life, Richie had been through a lot. He left his family home when he was sixteen to attend a boarding school. His parents were quite wealthy and decided that their son deserved a better education, that their small town could provide him. That’s why they packed Richie’s bags and drove him all the way to Portland. He didn’t want to do it, but didn’t really have a choice.

Portland’s Boarding School of Saint Patrick was his nightmare. That’s where he lost all confidence he earlier possessed, got laughed at and bullied, pulled into bad company and then kicked out of it when he got into trouble. That’s where he got his first tattoos too, trying to demonstrate how hurt and angry he was. He was a troublesome and lonely teenager that seemed like a lost case, but then there were his grades, way above average, and that’s what got him into his dream college and out of that hell. He was a gifted kid, never having problems with studying even though he didn’t particularly do much in that area.  

His real life really started in college. Actually, scratch that, his life really started when he met Beverly Marsh, his Best Friend In The Whole Damn World. They met at a gas station, at midnight, during one of the hottest nights of the year. Richie was looking for a ride home and Beverly sought comfort because her long-time boyfriend had just dumped her, leaving the girl for her former best friend. They got ice cream together, cried over their lives and decided to become friends. The next day Beverly found him on Facebook, they started talking and the rest, as they say, is history.  

The point is, he knew what sorrow looked like, even under the best mask ever. He could recognize an aching soul and Eddie seemed like one of those. Before Richie could truly figure Eddie out, the bus stopped.  

They got off the bus and walked for a bit. Richie didn’t know where he was at all, there were only really old, ugly blocks of flats with dozens of kids running around on the playground between. They wore colorful clothes, some of them were dirty with mud or ice cream, not having a care in the world about it, just chasing after a ball that was rolling down the hill. Eddie smiled fondly at the kids and waved when they walked closer, some of them replied with the same gesture. Richie smirked.

“Aw, they like you because you are their height, Spaghetti! They think you are one of them!” Richie shrieked with a goofy grin and clapped his hands obnoxiously. Eddie stopped in his tracks and turned around to give Richie a death glare. He didn’t like when someone made fun of him, but his height was something he really couldn’t bear.  

“You are so fucking insufferable, I swear. And, Spaghetti? Where did that come from?” Richie couldn’t tell if Eddie was genuinely mad or just amused, his fists balled into fists told one story but there was also a little smile toying on corner of the boy’s lips.  

To be fair, Eddie didn’t know either. Normally he would make a shitstorm out of it, trying to defend his honor, but the way Richie smiled made his heart melt a little. He really liked the way small dimples showed in the corner of Richie’s mouth, and how rosy his cheeks were from their little walk, how his hair was getting out of control of the hairband- it made his knees go weak and anger go away in seconds.  

“Easy! What rhymes with Eddie?” Richie answered in a cheerful tone and crossed the distance separating them, only to put his arm around Eddie’s neck and start walking again. “Spaghetti!” he shouted and laughed like a maniac.

Eddie tried to get out of his grip for far too long for his liking, but when he finally succeeded he punched Richie’s lanky arm and fought back the smile that was threatening to break onto his face. He was not giving Richie the satisfaction of knowing he made him laugh.  

The truth was, Eddie wasn’t aware what he was doing when he teamed up with Richie and for the few first minutes he wanted to tell Richie to fuck off. He desperately wanted to get away from the instant chatter echoing in his skull and stupid jokes thrown his way, but then something changed. Maybe it was the way Richie was looking at his photographs, self-consciousness written all over his face, or maybe how he let Eddie, complete stranger, do anything he wanted to him. Eddie didn’t know what it was, but he did know that this something made Richie much less annoying and, well, maybe even worth spending time with.  

“Where are we going” after some time, just when they arrived at the aforementioned playground, Richie asked, genuinely curious of what was going to happen. Eddie smiled softly and once again stopped, letting Richie come closer.

“It was my aunt’s housing estate, she used to live here when I was seven. It was my only get away from my family house during summer vacations. I would come here for, like, almost two months every single year.” Eddie looked at Richie and the taller boy could easily tell how important that place was for Eddie. There was a glint in Eddie’s eyes and he seemed more comfortable than he had ever before in the time they had spent together. Richie offered him a small smile in return, somehow encouraging the boy to continue. “Well, then aunt Jenna moved to New York and my whole childhood disappeared with her,” Eddie chuckled sadly and looked down at his shoes.

There was an uncomfortable silence that found its place between the boys. They were standing in a really tall grass, looking at colorful constructions placed in front of them and the kids playing tag.  

“Well, ‘we gonna take any pictures today, or what?”

The next two hours were spent on the little playground. Richie was being his goofy self, he was going down the slide, then up on the monkey bars (he almost fell off this one when Eddie started screaming for him to be careful, which caused him to laugh a bit too hard) and then he was using the merry-go-round, spinning it so fast that he almost puked afterwards. He even joined in to play hopscotch with some kids and Eddie’s stomach hurt so much from laughing he almost reached into his backpack for some pills.  

Richie was something else and Eddie was starting to see it clearer and clearer. He caught himself multiple times at watching the boy laugh, the way his curls fell into his eyes when he lowered his head laughing was making Eddie warm inside and he wanted to pull Richie’s hair behind his ears, caress it maybe. But as soon as such thoughts appeared in the boy’s head he only shook his head. ‘Maybe later’ he would think to himself and come back to photographing. He didn’t want to get distracted from finishing his work and his small heart was trying to make him do just that.  

When Richie ran out of things to do on the playground it was around midday. The sun was shining brightly, making their skin sting a bit, but in the best way possible.  

“Can we go eat something? I know a fucking awesome place with kebab, what ya sayin’ Eds?” Richie asked when they were walking back to the bus station. Eddie’s camera was full of great pictures and his head was light with excitement and happiness. That’s why he smiled sweetly at Richie and nodded his head, not having any care in the world about this stupid nickname Richie seemed to like so much.

“Whatever you want is fine,” he replied and hugged his camera closer to his chest, smiling like a little kid. Richie raised his eyebrows and grinned too, eyeing Eddie from the corner of his eye. He looked really adorable, his cheeks were pink from sun, and dehydration probably, eyes shining like two pretty diamonds and smile so wide that Richie was sure it hurt. He didn’t know what to do with himself, happy Eddie was something he hadn’t dealt with yet and he was a lot different from his normal, feisty and angry self. That’s why he just bit his lip and stuffed hands in his pockets, following the shorter boy inside the bus.

“You have to eat it, come on Eddie!” Richie shouted from his place. They were sitting in a small bar in the suburbs, Richie on one side of the booth and Eddie on the other, stimming kebabs sitting on the table in front of them. Well, actually, there was one in front of Eddie and Richie was just kind of making out with his. He had hot sauce all over his face and his hands were covered with it too.  

The place itself made Eddie want to puke. It was some rathole with black walls and four red booths placed near the bar, that was stocked with alcohol. Really loud rock music was coming out of the speakers on the walls, along with some obscure posters too and a sign that used to say “Furton and Chuck’s Goodies” but some of the lights went off and now it read “Fu ck God” (Eddie almost fell off his chair while laughing at it and Richie only smiled proudly).

“You want me to fucking die? That’s what you want? This, this is some damn violation of gastronomy rules, of-of motherfucking clean code or some shit, Richie! You are gonna get crabs you idiot!” Eddie went off, his hands flying wildly around while ranting. His face turned red from the effort and Richie only stared at him in amusement.

“Clean code?” he snorted with his mouth full and Eddie inhaled loudly with irritation. He hated how messy Richie was while eating but the other boy wasn’t fazed by the dirty glares Eddie was giving him during their meal. “What are you, some MTV show?” Richie swallowed loudly and cleared his throat. “In this episode of Clean Code we are going to discuss how to make sure your lady parts are neat and ready for some thorough-”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Eddie squeaked. He looked around the bar to make sure no one was listening to them and then swatter Richie’s arm. The other boy was hysteric, he started trashing in the booth from all the laughter bubbling out of his chest and God, he was so loud.  

Eddie rolled his eyes and eyed his food for the hundredth time that day. It looked awful, the meat was cut in a way that made Eddie’s insides twist, the vegetables didn’t look fresh and all the sauces mixed together seemed to be already eaten and thrown up. Eddie grimaced and pushed the place away from him, instead settling on watching Richie. The way he was eating matched the place so much. He had ketchup-freckles on his cheeks and a tiny chunk of meat on the top of his nose.  

But actually, it was kind of endearing. He was smiling really brightly in-between bites and seemed genuinely satisfied with his food. So yeah, Eddie took a picture of him, that’s why they were hanging out, right?

“You know what? I thought you wanted your portfolio to be nice and pretty, but you just keep taking pictures while I look like shit, and I started thinking, you know-” Richie swallowed midway through his monologue and gestured towards something behind Eddie, or maybe towards Eddie, it was a blur really. “-maybe you want it to be trashy and awful? ‘Cause I can do that, bro, you just gotta let a lad know, ya know?”

“Do you know people don’t speak like that, you caveman?” Eddie interrupted, a lopsided grin on his face. He took a tissue out of his pocket and gestured for Richie to give him his hand, when the taller boy proceeded to lick his fingers clean. Richie raised his eyebrows but did what he was asked for nonetheless. “And yeah, I want it to be nice and pretty, but not unnaturally. You know, all of those magazines and websites always show people that are so, well, easy to find attractive, and-” he took another one of Richie’s hands and started wiping the sauce off it too.“- and I don’t like that. Art isn’t supposed to be easy, or banal, it is supposed to make you feel something-”

“So, I make you feel something?” the other boy asked, cutting Eddie off. His hands were almost clean and he felt his chest tighten. There were only so many people that cared for him through his whole life and not one of them had ever cleaned his hands for him. He felt his cheeks heating up but didn’t react, it wasn’t something to be ashamed of, because the feelings he was feeling were good. Wanted.  

“Aren’t you observant,” Eddie murmured while standing up. He took his meal with him and waved a short goodbye to the guy standing behind the bar. His plate was plastic so he didn’t feel bad for taking it with him. He stopped in the entrance and looked at Richie that was still sitting and looking at Eddie with the brightest smile he had yet seen. “Come on dipshit, we have to give it to the homeless and get something edible.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Let me know! I live for feedback!! :)
> 
> (find me on tumblr! It's richieshawaiianshirts)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!!   
> (side note: Richie shopping is literally me lol)

“We are going thrift shopping? Oh my god, Eddie, you sure know how to treat a guy!” Richie squeaked when they arrived at their next stop. He crouched down to place a wet, loud kiss on Eddie’s cheek and then jumped up in excitement.

“Well, yeah, you need some other clothes for the photo shoot, I can’t have my professors knowing I took all of the photos today,” Eddie answered while smiling sweetly. He raised his hand to caress the place where Richie kissed him and bit his lip. That was nice. “Go on, find something you think is not complete shit.”

The thrift shop was not his initial plan, not really, but then he saw all of the stains on Richie’s clothes from eating and decided that the boy needed a makeover. What he told Richie wasn’t a lie though, he didn’t want his professor to know he had been slacking off the entire semester. Eddie was a good student, a boy with big dreams and even bigger ambition. It was dripping off of him, he was soaked with passion and creativity- everyone could see it. 

The thing was, he was also a perfectionist. He hated half-assing things and he had to be 100% sure he liked something before letting someone else see it. That’s why the portfolio was a huge challenge for him. 

They spent some time rummaging through the big shop, looking for the things they thought would look nice in photographs. Eddie had so many places he wanted to take pics of Richie in, he couldn’t decide where to go first and what he wanted Richie to wear. 

“Okay, time for some fashion show, Eds!” the taller boy shouted from somewhere behind Eddie. He looked at his watch and decided that yes, it was indeed time for them to get out of there. They had about nine hours to complete Eddie’s portfolio, they could do it, yeah.

Richie’s picks were first to go. At the beginning they both agreed to choose two outfits that they thought would look nice in a photo shoot and shouted RICHIE. Eddie sat in front of the changing room, anxiously playing with his fingers. He didn’t know Richie and was afraid that the boy was going to make a big joke out of his task, and Eddie couldn’t afford losing any time. He was pulled out of his thoughts because of the fitting room’s door being kicked open, revealing Richie in his finest. 

The boy’s first choice was a pair of colorful trousers with a print of sunflowers on it, a black long-sleeved t-shirt with “ALL ROCK’N ROLL IS HOMOSEXUAL” written on, tucked inside the trousers, with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He tied his hair into a bun, but there still were a few loose locks framing his face.

“Wow, that’s awesome!” Eddie sighed happily and clapped his hands in excitement. He was truly relieved that the other boy decided to put some effort into it and actually did what he was asked to. His heart swelled a bit while watching Richie smiling proudly and biting his lower lip. He looked really adorable, his skinny frame was hidden under the loose top, his fingers anxiously playing with fabric of his trousers. “But wait-” he smiled wickedly while watching Richie’s hands and ran across the store, looking around frantically in search of something he had seen earlier. He came back with black rings and a plain pendant, he also carried a pair of sunflower-shaped sunglasses with him.

Richie smiled so widely at the sight of it, and then even more when he put the stuff on. He looked ridiculous. But also, like, totally hot and in his element? Eddie couldn’t help but reach for his camera when Richie started making silly poses and acting like he was at a music festival.

“Oh-ma-gawd, Rebeccca! Can you like, believe it? We’re gonna see ‘em live, bitch!”

Click. Click. Click.

Richie stilled for a moment, his hand raised to his face in a mock shock, his sunglasses sitting in his hair. He turned around to Eddie and shot him a look that screamed embarrassment. Oh no.

Eddie raised his eyebrows and scanned Richie’s frame in search of any other indications of shame or regret of doing it, but he found none. There was some anxiety visible in the boy’s moves, what made Eddie smile softly and step closer. He knew damn well how it was to not believe in himself and feel intimidated in front of the camera. A few months before he and his friend, Mike, were assigned together to a task in photography class and Mike would take pictures of Eddie all the time. The smaller boy would react the same way Richie did- hide his face and blush furiously in embarrassment, it is, until Mike told him:

“You look stunning, man,” Eddie said, hand resting on Richie’s shoulder and his own eyes searching Richie’s. The taller boy smiled bashfully and shook his head.

“Yeah, get out of here, it’s only my first outfit!” he shouted, trying to turn this situation into a joke. And who was Eddie to stop him? He just raised his hands in surrender and backed out of the small space. 

While the taller boy was changing, Eddie got consumed by his thoughts. He started noticing small things about Richie, how he would bashfully touch curls behind his ear when Eddie was looking at him for a bit too long, how he always took some time to get comfortable with the other boy taking pictures of him, the way he blushed and turned everything into joke. Eddie didn’t know him too well, one could say he didn’t know him at all, but he felt a strong connection between them all the same. He felt something weird when their fingers brushed while walking, his anger seemed more tame than usual, but awake all the same when Richie was pulling his strings a bit too hard. 

Have you ever been in a museum by an accident? Have you walked past some and decided to go inside, explore it, get consumed by art? Well, Eddie has. When he was starting his escapade with college and this whole “big city life”, he would sometimes go out of his apartment and just stroll through parks and colorful streets. Once he got to another side of the city and discovered a small museum situated in the suburbs. The building was beautiful itself, monumental and surrounded by different kinds of flowers. It felt like being inside a photograph, that’s how beautiful it was. 

Anyway, Eddie went inside, not knowing what to expect at all, bought a ticket and started his journey with art inside. He saw some nice painting, some awful ones too and the road and money he spent on it didn’t really seem worth it, but then he found himself in the last room, at the very end of the building. You see, there wasn’t a lot of people in that particular room. Most of the visitors got bored or tired, maybe even annoyed with the low-quality-art they saw and decided to leave earlier, not willing to explore the rest anymore. And what a shame that was. 

In the last room hang the most beautiful painting Eddie had ever seen. It was beautiful no matter how you looked at it, the lights and colors making an impression of the art becoming alive, taking the viewer inside on its way. And the boy was the happiest he had ever been, his cheeks hurt from smiling and eyes watered a bit when he sat in the room for hours, taking in the painting from each and every side, enjoying every little thing about it. It was pure art.

When Eddie met Richie he felt like he was entering the museum all over again. He felt as if his time would be wasted, wanted to resign as soon as they started. But as the time went, he seemed to be going through next rooms, exploring the beautiful thing that was Richie’s soul and mind, and he felt himself nearing the last room. There was something making him go, not allowing him to stop and Eddie decided to follow it in his search for pure art.

He got pulled out of his thoughts by awfully loud shriek coming out of the changing room. Eddie quickly got up and ran towards it, wanting to check if his companion was okay. 

Of course, Richie was only joking to get some attention on him and then continue the fashion show. Eddie sighed so loudly, that an elderly lady shot him a surprised glance and shook her head in annoyance. 

Richie’s next outfit was awfully normal, a t-shirt with some cartoon characters on it, black jeans and leather jacket- Eddie shook his head in boredom and gave him thumbs down. Richie only pouted and went to try on the other boy’s choices. Eddie was fidgeting on his seat, nervously picking on his lower lip, waiting for Richie’s reaction. It was a bold choice and Eddie was afraid that Richie would laugh in his face and throw it away. To his amazement the taller boy walked out of the changing room with the biggest smile and amusement visible in his eyes.

“Fuck, Eds, that’s sick!”

Richie was wearing bright pink overalls with a black, Trasher t-shirt underneath that fitted his body like a glove. He also had a black cap with “I have A.D.D. A Delicious Dick” written on it with capital, white letters, Eddie gave him also a pair of socks with daisies on them. 

He looked perfect, the dark colors complemented his complexion and brought out freckles and the overalls made him look incredibly soft and pretty. Eddie was sure he didn’t speak for a few minutes because he was so hypnotized by the sight. 

There were a few moments in that day that made Eddie wish his relationship with Richie could be something more. He was entranced with him, the awful jokes, never-closing mouth and over-expressive, beautiful face made him think about Richie as something more than a friend. Hell, he didn’t know if they even were friends, but he felt himself helplessly falling for the boy. But this exact moment when Richie cupped his own face with his big hands, titled his head and smiled sweetly and it was the moment that Eddie would remember as “Officially Wanting To Be His” moment. 

They finally chose the outfits and left the shop, Richie dressed in his pink overalls. They chatted, really excited about the next place Eddie was taking them.

“Your friend really owns a sunflower field? How awesome is that, oh god!” Richie groaned and hang his arm over Eddie’s shoulders, pulling him closer when they got inside yet another bus. Eddie smiled and looked at his feet while blushing furiously. He liked the heat of Richie’s body against his and the smell of his cologne mixed with thrift shop. Some men tried to push past the pair, making Eddie stand face to face with Richie, their chests almost touching. “That’s comfy, isn’t it?” Richie joked and winked down at the smaller boy. Eddie wanted to punch Richie’s stomach but the bus stopped in the same moment and he ended up tripping over his own feet. He landed in Richie’s stretched out, ready to save him, arms, their faces inches apart, noses almost touching. 

“I want to scream, that’s how cliché that shit is,” Eddie huffed, pushing himself away from Richie and standing straight. And maybe, just maybe his body tingled from the contact they made. 

They got to the field in few minutes, it not being that far away from the city. Mike, his dearest friend, agreed for them to use it when he talked with Eddie on the phone, while Eddie was waiting for Richie to gather his things in the thrift shop. He was the sweetest boy on earth and Eddie knew he would agree, but he also had a lot of respect for him and wanted to get his consent. 

“Listen, I, I need to move you around a bit-” Eddie muttered when they settled somewhere in the middle of the field. The sun was on its way down the sky and the light that illuminated them was truly magical. The air was thick with tension, mostly because of Eddie’s nerves connected with the whole assignment thing, but there was also some negative energy flowing out of Richie. “-Okay, lay down and, yeah, turn your head a bit, that’s good, aha!”

Richie was situated on the floor, his head turned towards the sky, chin high and eyes closed. Eddie pulled his hands up, so that he looked like he was making a snow angel in the sunflowers. Richie’s eyes fluttered nervously, his cheeks heated up noticeably and his hands grabbed some grass to calm himself down. Eddie didn’t notice it, too focused on some settings on his camera, so when he looked up and saw a single tear running down Richie’s cheek, he felt all the air leave his body.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, no,” the smaller boy muttered, putting his camera aside and crunching down next to Richie. He still had his eyes tightly closed, lip quivering a bit and chest heaving. “Hey, hey Rich, look at me, come on,” he whispered, a bit uncomfortable. He had never comforted anyone while crying, well, anyone that he didn’t know well. His mind was spiraling, there was no information about what could make Richie calm down and that’s what made him so scared. He didn’t want to fuck it up. 

Richie’s face scrunched up and he shook his head, still not moving from his position.

“Come on, ‘Chee, please, what’s going on?”

“I can’t do it, Eds, I’m so sorry.” he finally sat up and opened his puffed eyes. He scanned the area wildly, not wanting to look Eddie in the eye. He wanted to stand up but Eddie quickly pushed him down, holding him tightly. 

“What, Richie? What can’t you do, hmmm?” his voice was soft and soothing. Eddie’s hands slowly rubbed circles into Richie’s scalp, massaging it and trying to make the other boy relax. He knew what an anxiety attack looked like, he had had his own share of them when he was younger, and knew what to do to calm someone down, but at the same time it was Richie- a boy he hardly knew. The not-knowing was really driving him mad, so he decided to just go with his instincts and slowly reached for Richie’s face. He delicately cupped his sharp jaw and stroke a thumb under the boy’s eye, wiping away some of the tears. 

“I can’t be pretty, Eds,” he murmured and Eddie’s heart clenched painfully. It physically hurt him when Richie scrunched his eyes closed again and tried to back away from Eddie’s touch. “I really want to, but, but-” he hiccuped, panic taking over his body almost entirely. “-I just don’t want you to look at the photos and decide that your time wasn’t worth it, ya know? I don’t want to fuck it up for you.”

Richie looked completely wrecked. His whole body was shaking, wet eyelashes got glued together because of the tears and cheeks got an angry shade of red. He was picking at his fingernails and the skin around them, making it break and bleed. Eddie tsked and shook his head, then moved closer to the boy and took his hands into his own. 

“You won’t Richie.”

“But-”

“You won’t, okay?” the smaller boy shot him a sweet smile and waited for Richie to calm down. He breathed slowly and loudly, gesturing for the other one to do the same, he then proceeded to rub Richie’s shaking shoulders, his hands and even chest, trying to sooth him. “Richie, you are beautiful, trust me.” Richie shook his head and tried to draw back again, but Eddie didn’t let him.

“How can you say that, Eds? My face is so, it’s so weird an-and my body? Oh god, I’m no Chris Hemsworth, Eddie, don’t lie to me,” he tried to turn his outburst into a joke, but all the self-pity and insecurities were palpable for Eddie.

The smaller boy smiled sadly and lowered his head for a moment, thinking of good words to express himself. He wasn’t good with them, he preferred actions instead, liked to show emotions through gestures, but that wasn’t an option. Richie was in a clear need of verbal praise and Eddie’s job was to deliver. 

He took a deep breath and looked Richie straight in the eye, wanting to get to the bottom of his soul with what he had in mind. The taller boy looked a bit scared, his eyebrows were furrowed and lips parted. He seemed a bit calmer, but still fidgeted with, this time, Eddie’s fingers.

“You-um, were you-have you ever seen Vincent’s Van Gogh’s paintings, ‘Chee?” Eddie asked in a small voice. He furrowed his brows, unhappy with how he sounded, and cleared his throat. “When he was alive, everyone said that, you know, that it was ugly and shitty, ‘cause it didn’t fit into some, well, labels-” he continued, even though he didn’t get a response. Art was the way he understood world, how he somehow got through his life and it was the best metaphor for him. He wanted Richie to get that, and, given his suddenly dreamy eyes, it was kind of working. “-but then he died and-um- some other people saw his works and decided that he was actually pretty-fucking-fabulous.” Eddie took a deep breath and rearranged himself, so he could fit between Richie’s widely spread legs. “What I’m trying to say is, his art didn’t change. It was the same it was, but then came some people with different opinions and decided that it was worth something. It’s all about the way of thinking, Rich. And those people that don’t find you attractive? Fuck them. You are simply too- you are art, Richie.”

Richie’s breath hitched and he stopped crying. He was looking at Eddie with fascination written all over his face, searching for something that could indicate he was telling lies, but there was no such thing. His face was expressive, eyes shining with unshed tears and lips pink and wet from constant biting on them. The taller boy’s hands found their way onto Eddie’s hips and he gently pulled him closer. Not one person had ever taken so much time and effort to make Richie feel better and it was making his head spin. 

“Art?” he asked shyly, head propped on Eddie’s chest, looking up at him. Eddie’s cheeks were pink from the unexpected contact, but he let himself thread fingers through Richie’s curls and nod.

“Yeah. You make me feel so many things, just like art. You-you make me furious whenever you open your big mouth and-” Richie chuckled, slightly taken aback. “-and then I see you looking at the world with such child-like fascination and I can’t help but smile. You have the weirdest style but it fits you so good, your pretty face is so stupid and angular but it, it just kind of works? You make me want to kill you, but then I want to just pull you closer and protect you from the world.”

Many times, when Eddie thought back to this moment, he wondered if he hadn’t said too much. It seemed too bold, too weird for almost-a-stranger to say. But all those thoughts always left him when he remembered the big smile on Richie‘s tear-stained face and the way he hugged Eddie- so hard and close the smaller boy almost couldn’t breath.

“Let’s take some photos,“ Richie mumbled, his voice thick with emotion. He pulled back and stood up, ready to face another challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That one was an emotional roller coaster, wasn't it? I hope you enjoyed it anyway!   
> Tell me what you think about it, I love reading your comments! 
> 
> (find me on tumblr! it's richieshawaiianshirts)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's getting ROMANTIC you guys

Richie was seated in the bus, yet again this day. The sun was nearing the horizon, trying to hide behind tall buildings, threatening them, saying that it was all going to be over soon. They had spent beautiful couple of hours together, the field tying it all together, tightening the fast-growing bond. 

It wasn’t like him to open up to strangers so easily. Of course, everyone that had talked with Richie Tozier even for as short period of time, as twenty minutes would tell you that he was a social butterfly, real mouthful to be honest. He had a brilliant sense of humor, a bit dirty and childish, but it all suited his personality almost perfectly. People always found themselves longing to hear the end of a story Richie was currently telling, his way of talking really entrancing. He talked fast, but slow enough for everyone to understand, he could change the tone of his voice and put emphasis on just the right words, putting a little show while talking. It was his gift, really- the talking. 

But who would guess that under all of the loud clothing, even louder mouth and toothy smile was a shy, awkward boy with issues tying him to only the closest to him. He didn’t like sharing anything personal with strangers, that’s why Eddie became even more of a wonder to him. 

Eddie has been bizarre since their very meeting. He had wild eyes and mussed hair, but not in an untidy way (like Richie’s was), but because of the wind. His cheeks were rosy, mouth moving a little awkwardly, words unsure but stern all the same, almost like he was constantly fighting with himself to even do as much as speak. 

Richie found him incredibly interesting. He sure was a shy one, but he came up to them, no, chased after them only to complete some assignment. Only because he liked the way Richie looked so much. At first, he was unsure, it all seemed like a joke, but Beverly seemed to trust him and Richie trusted her, so he agreed. As easy as that. 

During the whole day Richie found himself watching Eddie more often than he wanted to admit. He had his freckles all mapped out, knew that he would rather walk around a puddle than jump over it, he even noticed the little things like how the smaller boy would constantly eye people around him on the bus, almost afraid of them, or when his lower lip trembled slightly while thinking what to say. Richie was enamored when Eddie laughed at him eating like a pig, he loved the way he scoffed and tried to hide his smile but at the end let it spread over his pretty face. It was perfect, sitting there in front of him, listening to him complain and laugh at his jokes. Then the thrift shop, how he gave him the best clothes ever, just as if he knew Richie for his whole life. And the field (oh god, the field). 

He didn’t know what happened to him, he just saw how focused Eddie was, that it was really important to him and the tears just flooded his eyes. It was truly embarrassing and he felt truly awful making Eddie uncomfortable, but he was just the sweetest about it. Richie couldn’t forget the way his voice broke, how he pulled Richie closer and said all those wonderful, lovely words that made Richie’s insides twist and his toes curl. It was the first time in forever that Richie felt loved romantically. 

He glanced over at Eddie, stealing the precious moments of him buried in his thoughts, looking out of the window and concentrating on the world. He was playing with the hem of his jacket, nervously fidgeting in his seat and biting his lip. Richie felt a pang of sympathy to the smaller boy, knowing he was really anxious about their task. He finally understood how much depended on it and he wanted everything best for Eddie. 

The bus finally stopped, after about half an hour, and Eddie jumped to his feet, gesturing for Richie to join him. The taller boy did just that, not hesitating even for a second- that's how much he trusted Eddie. They found themselves in the middle of the city, Richie already in his other outfit, the one with flowery trousers, on some kind of flee market. There were people selling different items- from carpets and fruits, through boots and slippers, to jewelry. Richie smiled to himself, the placing vibrating with a lot of positive energy, making him all jumpy and excited. 

The energy between him and Eddie had shifted too ever since the field, making the boys smile at each other and walk as close as possible, their hands brushing. All of this made Richie grin really hard and the words flew to his mouth automatically. 

“Shit, that’s so awesome! Oh my god, have you seen this carpet? It had like, real diamonds on it, I mean, they probably weren’t real, who would afford it, especially at a flea market, am I right? Imagine walking on it, I feel like it would be torture! Who even made such a thing, this is like, a crime against bare feet!” he went on and on, commenting the way some flowers smelled or how much he enjoyed such places. Eddie only nodded from time to time, listening closely to the other boy and smiling fondly. He really liked the way Richie could talk about the smallest things, how honest and open he was about it- the exact opposite of talking about his emotions. 

“God, Eddie! Look at this beauty!” Richie squealed in excitement and pointed at a small dog sitting next to some woman. She was selling jewelry, handmade rings and necklaces that had different colors and shapes. Eddie bit his lip and looked at Richie’s amazed face, feeling all hot and fuzzy inside. The way the taller boy looked made him incredibly soft, he had to focus really hard not to coo out loud. He couldn’t help himself and took Richie’s hand into his own, making the boy look at him with warmth in his eyes. 

“Go on, pet it,” he said softly. Richie smiled even wider and squeezed Eddie’s hand before rushing to the dog. He first greeted the lady and asked for permission before crouching down and rubbing the dog’s head. 

Eddie reached for his camera and took a few pictures of Riche and the dog before coming closer, gesturing for the boy to pose. Curly-headed boy gladly sat down on the ground and picked up the dog that was waggling his tail around and licking his face. Eddie quickly snapped some photos and then looked at the lady that was watching them fondly. He came closer to her. 

“Hello! Could you, please, take a few pictures of me and my friend?” 

That’s how Eddie ended up on Richie’s lap, the dog licking both of their faces and running around happily. The boy was giggling, pure joy on his face, arms curled around Richie’s neck. The other boy was looking at him fondly, also laughing loudly and pressing Eddie’s body to his own, his hands holding his waist securely. 

“You boys are so adorable!” the woman said, giving the camera back. They both stood up from the ground and thanked her with red colored cheeks. Richie patted the dog once more and walked closer to the lady’s booth. His eyes scanned different kinds of jewelry before settling on a bracelet. It had flower-shaped beads in different colors. 

“How much for the bracelet?” he asked the woman, silently enough that Eddie couldn’t hear them from where he was looking through the photos. 

“Two dollars, my dear,” she whispered back. Richie nodded, took out his wallet and handed the woman two dollar bills. 

 

They wandered around the market for a bit longer, taking shots of Richie next to the diamond-carpet, buying some fruits and talking. Eddie got to know about Richie’s friends- his best friend Beverly, the girl he had met earlier that day, her boyfriend Ben, Richie’s other friend Bill and his girlfriend Audra. They seemed to be a great group, always being there for each other, throwing great parties and having fun together. Eddie told him about his friends too- Mike and Stan, the greatest couple Eddie had ever seen. They were inseparable, lived in the same building and loved to binge-watch tv series what led to; 

“No, Rachel and Ross are meant to be, the series says so itself, are you fucking dumb?!” Richie shouted, gesturing wildly. Eddie huffed and shook his head. 

“All I’m saying is I think that Joes deserved happiness and he was just the sweetest to her! I mean, come on, the boy was adorable! And-and Ross cheated on Rachel, Joey would never do that!” 

“They were on a break!” Richie argued, a laugh escaping his lips after the sentence. Eddie couldn’t help but snort in laughter at that. “Okay, okay, let’s not go there. Where are we going now?” 

Eddie hummed, thinking about their next location. To be honest he didn’t think that it would all go so smoothly and they would still have so much time. It was an early evening, the sun almost invisible, making the sky orange. 

“I honestly don’t know,” he answered truthfully, sighing and stuffing his hands into pockets, continuing to walk ahead. Richie giggled and nodded, following Eddie wherever they were going. He wanted to say something, start a nice conversation, like the one that had just ended, but he didn’t know what he could possibly say. It didn’t happen a lot, but, as already proved, Eddie made him do very weird things that didn’t normally take place. Just when Richie finally decided to open his mouth, there was a loud noise coming out of his pocket. 

“Shit,” he murmured and took his phone out. He looked down at Eddie and pointed to the device. “It’s Bill, ‘gotta answer that.” Richie smiled apologetically. Eddie only nodded and tried not to eavesdrop but the other boy had the phone on such high volume that he could hear every word. 

“Trashmouth!” a shaky, clearly drunk voice shouted. Richie laughed a bit and shook his head. He winked at Eddie before answering as loudly. 

“Big Bill! What could it be that you need from me on this fine day?” Eddie winced at how awfully loud he was while talking on the phone. Some shuffling took place on the other side, then Eddie heard labored breathing and some laughter. “Hey, you there, fucker?” 

“Awww, Ben! Richie’s calling me names!” the other boy whined. The smaller boy couldn’t help but chuckle a little what was met with Richie smirking at him. There was a response from someone in the background, but not loud enough for Eddie to hear. “We have a party! Come over!” 

Yet again, Richie laughed and, judging by the way his mouth twitched, wanted to disagree, but then he felt something, or someone, lightly pulling on his sleeve and turned around to see, that Eddie had stopped and was looking at him with unsure eyes, biting his lip a little. Richie raised his eyebrow. 

“We-um, we could go, if you wanna, you know, go,” he said, voice suddenly small. Richie wasn’t convinced if this was a good idea, Eddie seemed terrified and they weren’t even there. He cocked his head to the side and raised his eyebrows, silently asking the other boy if he was sure. “I could take some photos,” he quickly added, seeing that his companion was thinking about it. 

“Where’s the party?” 

 

It was probably one of the boldest decisions in Eddie’s life. He had never been to a party, let alone such big one. People were occupying the whole big garden behind Richie’s friend’s house and the building too. Everyone seemed either high or drunk, some people were laughing really loudly and talking with friends, but most of them were dancing wildly and (oh god) sexually with each other. 

It’s not like Eddie was a blushing virgin, no sir, but he didn’t like the idea of behaving like animals and grinding on each other in public. He was a very private person in this area and liked it this way. 

When they entered the crowded house, Richie reached for his hand and offered him a big, reassuring smile. Eddie gladly accepted the gesture and held onto Richie’s hand like his whole life depended on it. They somehow made their way through the crowd and ended up in a place that looked like a living room. There were two sofas in the middle, a big tv in front of them and an even bigger set of speakers. The loud music was coming out of them, making the room vibrate and not easy to be in. Eddie winced at the volume once again that night but didn’t say a word. He didn’t want to be impolite or seem weird to Richie. He didn’t want the other boy to think that he was a loser (he was, but Richie didn’t have to know that, right?). 

“Rich!” someone shouted from one of the sofas and the taller boy grinned widely. He tugged at Eddie’s hand and guided them both towards the voice. A lot of dancing people shot them awkward looks, or even shouted some profanities when they pushed past them and Eddie lowered his head. Richie didn’t seem to notice, maybe care, and continued his way towards the middle of the room. 

There were two boys sitting on the sofa, beers in their hands and big smiles plastered onto their faces. One of them was tall, he had auburn straight hair styled into some kind of floppy quiff and handsome face. He wore a red flannel shirt and black jeans- he looked like a total fuckboy and Eddie didn’t like it one bit, especially when he noticed heavy, golden earnings he had on him too. But then, he smiled really widely and sincerely at Richie and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, shouting something into his ear. The other boy only laughed and patted him on the back in a friendly gesture. 

“Eddie, this is Bill Denbrough, one of my besties,” he said and smiled proudly, showing off his teeth. Eddie wanted to greet him with a handshake but Bill only snorted and hugged him, a bit gentler than Richie, but it still made Eddie hurt all over. The smaller boy laughed nervously and tried to get himself out, but didn’t have enough strength. Richie (bless his soul) understood it quickly when their stares met and pulled Eddie into his own chest. “Wooah, easy there cowboy, I dunno if Audra would be happy if she had seen you making grabby hands at my-at Eddie.” 

Eddie’s head turned around to look at Richie so fast, that he knocked into his chin. Curly head hissed in pain and looked at Eddie, meeting his wide eyes. He bit his lip and shrugged, smiling. 

Eddie was in shock when he had heard Richie’s mistake while talking about him. It seemed almost like he wanted to introduce Eddie as his...no that’s impossible. Right? 

Something blossomed in Eddie’s chest at the thought of becoming something more than Richie’s friend, maybe his boy-that would be ridiculous. He shook his head and took a step forward, breaking their skin contact. He stared to really like the idea of having this lanky boy around for a bit longer than that day, but he didn’t know if Richie wanted the same. This slip of the tongue made him think that maybe he did. That maybe they could date. 

“Hey, Earth to Spaghetti!” Richie waved his hand in front of Eddie’s face. His own was really heated and red, which Eddie found incredibly cute and had to discreetly pinch his thigh to shake off the feeling. “I said, this is Ben.” he gestured to the other boy next to them. He had his arm outstretched, hand waiting to shake Eddie’s and the smaller boy minutely felt himself blushing in embarrassment. 

This whole moment was a disaster. It was so chaotic and awful and he wanted to set himself on fire, or hide underneath of the sofas- whatever could make him escape faster. 

He shook Ben’s hand and took a quick look at him. He had the friendliest face in the whole world- evident cheekbones and jawline hidden under a tiny bit of fat, making it soft and squishy. He was a big boy, with strong muscly arms and a bit more body here and there. Eddie could imagine that hugging him must have been the safest feeling in the world. The boy was wearing blue jeans, that seemed a bit too big, and washed t-shirt with a Superman logo on it. 

“Hi,” Eddie squeaked and, after shaking their hands, retreated into calming closeness of Richie’s body. “Nice house,” he said, this time talking to Bill. He only got a drunken smile and Ben’s sigh in response. Richie laughed loudly and put his hand on the small of Eddie’s back. 

“You won’t get much out of him in this state, he’s heading straight to Puke Valley,” Richie barked out a laugh, making Ben chuckle too. Eddie also smiled a little, hugging himself tightly to somehow get the uncomfortable tension out of his body. “Want somethin’ to drink?” 

Eddie thought about it for a bit and cocked his head while looking at Richie’s grin. He wanted to, he really did, but this was something he was doing to complete his portfolio and there wasn’t time for him to party. Not then, anyway. He shook his head while smiling sheepishly and pointed to his camera. 

“Right, you’re workin’, ‘lil nugget.” 

“What, the fuck did you just call me?” 

 

After an hour Eddie’s camera was hot from taking photos. He had a few shots of Richie drinking orange juice- he didn’t want to drink and risk fucking up the assignment- then there were a few where Bill sat with his girlfriend in his lap. She was a cute girl, had long, red hair and pale, porcelain-like skin with a whole lot of freckles on it. She wore a mint, tight dress that hugged her body nicely and Bill’s jean jacket. They looked adorable, Audra scolding Bill for drinking too much and the boy making puppy eyes. 

Eddie had also taken quite a few pictures of Beverly and Ben. They were a different kind of couple- he was a quiet, nice boy sitting on the sofa while she seemed like a hurricane, running around and shouting the lyrics to some 80’s songs. After some time she finally got him out of his sit and onto the dancefloor. He lifted and spun her around, smiling like a madman, some disbelief visible on his face. 

And of course, beautiful close-ups of Richie. Richie’s face, his fingers moving to the rhythm, him dancing, shouting, laughing, smiling, singing. Eddie was really content with this collection. 

“Wanna dance?” he heard from behind him, while checking how the photos turned out. He looked towards the voice and found Richie hunching over with an extended hand. Eddie blinked a few times and laughed. 

“I can’t dance, not like that,” he answered truthfully. He had never ‘felt the rhythm’ or ‘let himself loose’ on the dancefloor and was positive that this just wasn’t his thing. But Richie called bullshit. 

“Bullshit!” he, indeed, called. “Come on!” he all but pulled Eddie up. The smaller boy shouted in surprise and clutched onto the camera a bit tighter. 

“That’s expensive, dipshit!” he tried to shout over the music. Richie only rolled his eyes and took the device out of Eddie’s hands, handing it over to Beverly. The girl smiled happily and sent them both a kiss. Richie pretended to catch it and hug it to his heart, what earned him a middle finger from Ben. He only laughed and focused on Eddie once more. 

“Let’s go, my dear,” he said in a fake (quite good) British accent. Eddie only rolled his eyes and let Richie guide them to a makeshift dancefloor. Some jumpy song was just coming to an end when they finally settled for a place to dance in. The taller boy wanted to start jumping around, but then the music changed into a soft ballad and he stopped in his tracks. 

“That’s so cliché,” Eddie giggled and tried to turn around, possibly come back to his seat, when he felt Richie’s big hand circling around his wrist. He spun him around and pulled to his chest, stealing the breath out of Eddie’s lungs. 

“You promised me a dance,” he murmured, one hand enclosing around Eddie’s and the other on his waist. They were really close to each other, chest flush and it was really hard for the smaller boy to place his hand on Richie’s shoulder, but, after some cringey wiggling around, he succeeded. 

Richie’s heart was beating fast. Like, car-race-fast. He felt Eddie’s body heat on himself and a soft feeling washed over him. He felt at ease, his mind wasn’t racing and mouth didn’t feel the ever-present urge to speak. Music seemed far away, just like everyone in the room, and all he could feel and hear clearly was Eddie’s heartbeat, his pretty eyes blinking lazily and the heat. 

The song was coming to an end when Eddie looked up, bringing their faces closer. Richie couldn’t concentrate on anything else than his lips, how wet and plump their seemed from this proximity. He gulped loudly, making Eddie giggle and hide his face in Richie’s t-shirt. The taller boy felt his heart fall, the moment felt ruined, but he didn’t want it to be. That’s why he let go of Eddie’s hand and took the boy’s chin between his fingers, lifting it up. Their lips were again only inches away. 

Eddie had never been as attracted to somebody, as he was to Richie. He loved the way he could smell his flowery perfume from their position, count his freckles and see golden dots in his eyes. It all made him so special, Eddie’s heart ached. He felt their skin touching everywhere and his hot breath on his own nose. 

He decided to do something, the day was almost over and he didn’t like the idea of losing Richie to the sunset. Eddie didn’t want to give up all those stupid jokes, his moronic nicknames and just Richie. He couldn’t imagine waking up to world without him, that’s why he slowly stood up onto his tippy toes and wanted to close the space between them. He could almost feel the sour taste of orange juice on Richie’s lips, and then... 

Click. Click. Click. 

Richie huffed loudly, turning his face to see Beverly grinning like a maniac with Eddie’s camera in her eyes. He was already opening his mouth to tell her off, but Eddie wasn’t having any of it. Maybe it was because of the heat, it somehow playing tricks on his mind, or maybe because of the other unexpected decisions he had made that day making him tougher. He didn’t know what exactly was the reason, but he pulled Richie’s face back to himself and smashed their lips together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! If so, tell me! I love all the feedback this fic is getting, it truly makes me so happy I could burst.
> 
> (find me on tumblr! it's richieshawaiianshirst)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is a soft chapter, a bit of a filler really, but I really wanted you to get to know the characters more!  
> Enjoy!
> 
> (corrected by wonderful @fuckboykaspbrak on tumblr)

Richie Tozier kissed like he was hurting.  

It was deep and passionate, slow and full of emotion. His face was scrunched up in a pain-like expression, his forehead full of creases, brows furrowed and eyes closed almost painfully hard. He brought both of his hands to Eddie’s cheeks and pulled him in, in, in. Their bodies were pressed together so close, someone may have thought it was a one person.  

Richie’s head was racing. He felt electric, wild with energy flowing through his body. It wasn’t his first kiss, but close to it. You may not believe me when I tell you, but the boy had kissed only three people in his whole lifetime, one of them being Beverly during a questionable time in his life.  

Richie Tozier had been hurt by kissing.  

His first boyfriend ever, Thomas Lonny, a golden-haired boy with beautiful smile and incredibly blue eyes, a football player and the most popular boy in the whole school- the perfect boy Richie had been really happy to be with, had hurt him. It was during their last week at school, three days before graduation. There was a party, a big one, in Thomas’ house and everyone was invited, Richie’s name first one the list.  

You see, Thomas had never been ashamed of dating Rich, or even scared of coming out. He was a brave lad with lawyers as parents and a shitload of money. Everyone liked him and some were even afraid of him, so why would someone bully him for being queer? That wasn’t a problem. He actually really liked Richie, fancied his looks and even personality, what was really challenging during this time in his life. What became, in fact, the problem, was Richie’s aversion to kissing. He had never let Thomas’ lips closer than to his cheeks, always ducking his head when the other boy tried to press their lips together, and murmuring a little “not yet, sorry”. 

The thing was, Richie Tozier was even bigger of a loser in high school, than during his whole lifetime combined. He never went to parties, didn’t like attention on him and was a tad shy when it came to human relations. He also was saving his first kiss for the perfect occasion. And Thomas was a player, not only on field but with people, too, and his friends did everything to remind him of that. Richie had heard “Have you stolen the virgin’s kiss yet, Lonny?” on multiple occasions, but never paid them any mind, shrugging it off as jealousy. But Thomas was a friend of his friends, so what was a boy to do? He stole the virgin’s kiss, that’s what he did.  

The party was in a full swing, people dancing and shouting, drinking alcohol and smoking weird-looking cigarettes, and Richie was sitting in the middle of it, on Thomas’ lap to be exact. He was curled up on him, head resting peacefully on his chest, lanky legs between his boyfriend’s and arms around the other’s neck. He felt save, and loved, his little heart was doing backflips and splits, dancing Macarena because of all the happiness Thomas brought into his life. He hid his smiling face in his boyfriend’s neck. 

“Oh, is the virgin _begging_ for attention, Tom? Have you finally gotten to those sweet, sweet lips, man?” one of the jocks asked. He was Thomas’ best friend and also a captain of the team, his name being Bob or Tod, something along these lines. Richie bit his lip and looked up. Tom was a little bit drunk, flushed with alcohol running through his veins, but there was a teasing smirk plastered on his face, so Richie wasn’t worried. His boyfriend didn’t like when those questions were being asked, he once told Richie, he felt like a pussy for not having kissed his significant other. Curly-haired boy really often apologized him for it.  

“You know what, Tod?” or maybe Bob “In fact, Imma do it right now, if you want the show so bad,” he laughed, a bit too deep for Richie’s liking. When he heard those words, he bolted right up and off Tom’s lap, looking at him with wild eyes. The blonde one was getting up himself, accompanied by claps and hollering of his friends, laughing silently.  

In this moment, Richie felt like a pray, hunted by a predator. His blood went cold, body couldn’t move from all the _fear_ he was experiencing. It became so different than it was just mere minutes earlier. Words of others became a background noise, everything was blurry, as if his glasses had been taken off, and everything felt so fucking _surreal_ _._    
 

Richie had always though that he would be able to defend himself while facing danger. He maybe was a bit lanky and didn’t have enough muscles, but a simple kick to the shin, or maybe balls, seemed easy enough for him to perform. He imagined it, lying in bed, weird thoughts flooding his mind, and was always so perfectly assured of his own skills when it came to self-protection.  

But then, when he actually did face danger, he couldn’t make himself react in any way. He just stood there, watched Thomas, his precious Tommy, walk closer with a sickening grin, place both hands on his ass and squeeze it, so hard in made Richie yelp, and then forcefully press their lips together.  

Richie didn’t close his eyes, he didn’t feel butterflies in the pit of his stomach nor his palms becoming sweaty with nerves and excitement. He felt sick, vomit welling up into him mouth and then he was pushing and pushing, trying to get away from the creature that he once called his _sunshine._ His first kiss wasn’t perfect, even good, it was horrifying and awful, a tearful moment he would remember all his life.  

Kissing Eddie Kaspbrak was as easy as breathing. He was soft and warm, not pushing too hard and respecting boundaries. His hands never left the save expanse of Rich’s shirt, holding onto it tightly with a wide smile trying to break their kiss. It was sun and flowers, like kissing a blossom- delicate but sweet, tender and fragile. It was nothing like being grabbed by Thomas, like being attacked with other’s mouth, forced into it. And Richie had never felt better.  

 

The tender kiss turned into a hurricane. Into a mess of limbs, fingers tangled in hair and spit-shining lips and in would continue for God only knows how long, if it wasn’t for Beverly to step in.  

“Bill wanted me to tell you, that you can have the guestroom,” she spoke from behind Eddie with a big, full-on smirk displayed on her face. Eddie stopped kissing his, well, whoever Richie was to him in that moment, and tucked his head down, hiding in-between Richie’s shirttail. He could feel his face getting impossibly red in embarrassment. Not because of the whole kissing thing (God no!), but because he actually forgot they were at a party with tons of people surrounding them and being able to watch their embrace.  

Richie was breathing hard, trying to focus on Beverly’s face that was a bit blurry, his arms coming around Eddie’s body at instinct, letting him hide behind his own body.  

“Tell Bill I said fuck you,” he laughed, still a little hazed. “But also thank you,” he quickly added and winked at Bev, trying to break the tension between him and the girl. She giggled, winking right back and turning around.  

Richie’s attention came back to Eddie. The smaller boy was smiling shyly into his shirt, a crimson blush on his cheeks, eyes a bit glassy and hair mussed up. His body weight was almost entirely propped on Richie, the boy being too out of it to stand by himself.  

“I think we could use that room, hm?” 

 

They were both lying on a king-sized bed in Bill’s guestroom, looking at the ceiling and not saying a thing. Their hands were joined, fingers intertwined with Eddie’s thumb gently stroking Richie’s palm. 

Eddie felt his mind drifting away, different thoughts clouding it, and he started wondering how did all of this happen. He didn’t intend to get together with Richie, nor kiss him for that matter. He simply wanted to finish his assignment, receive a decent grade and pass this goddamn class, catching feelings was never in the plan.  

You see, there is quite more to Eddie Kaspbrak than he lets on. During that day he felt, more than on one occasion, like he was drowning, suffocating in Richie’s constant chatter, new situations he was faced with and actions he was never expected to take, yet now it was mandatory. Eddie has never, in his whole life, liked changes or challenges that took him out of his comfort zone.  

His teenage years were full of sitting alone in his bedroom, reading, watching tv or taking long, long walks in the woods close to his house, taking pictures of animals and nature. He didn’t have any friends, just some colleagues that he could chat with at lunch, but nothing beside that. Eddie was quite the loner, only fully comfortable while not having to interact with his peers, thinking of them as stupid and not worth his time. He wasn’t full of himself, but watching teens getting drunk, having sex and getting pregnant right afterwards was sobering, showing him how easy it was to ruin his own life. And he wasn’t a fool, he had worked too hard to ruin everything with a moment of not thinking. 

So he sat at home, studied, took pictures and then studied some more, working his ass off to be called out at graduation and congratulated for being the best student. It was rewarding, sure, also real helpful while applying to schools, but then came the regret. 

Oh yes, the tightening in his chest, threatening to suffocate him, making him purchase an inhaler. It came soon after moving to his new apartment, when his new friends asked him if he had ever been to a party. He had to duck his head and say that no, he hadn’t. Pure shock on the faces of Stan and Mike made him run to his room and lock the doors. He had cried that night, bawled his eyes out, and for the first time, questioned his actions as teenager.  

Maybe he wouldn’t be so weird and lonely if he made himself stop overthinking, if he just gathered his things, dressed up and went to some goddamn party in high school. He could’ve made friends, kiss someone, collect memories.  

Richie made him feel this thick tension, too. Looking at him, the colorful tattoos on his legs, tanned skin and how many people he knew, it all took his breath away, reminded that he too could have an interesting life, if only he wanted to. 

“A penny for your thoughts?” Richie murmured from the other side of bed. He was lying on his side, facing Eddie and looking at him with sparkling eyes and a smile dancing on his lips. His curls arranged itself to look like a halo, making the boy look much more delightful than ever. Eddie huffed out a small laugh and turned around too, never letting go of the other’s hand.  

“Not worth it.” he smiled in an answer and fluttered his eyes closed, shuffling a little bit closer to Richie. The taller boy smiled softly and did the same thing. “How did we end up here, hm?” Eddie whispered, his head spinning from all the things happening around him. He felt heat radiating off of his companion, smelled his cologne and heard every little breath. It was all so new, so weird but fascinating. Unexpected.  

“Fate,” Richie said with confidence, making the other boy laugh a little. 

“Yeah, right.” 

“Oh, come on Eds, you could’ve seen anyone else in that park, but saw me, this has to mean something, right?” Eddie was getting a bit anxious listening to the other boy, his heart racing and palms sweating.  

“Yeah, if you believe in such things as fate or destiny,” he commented and opened his eyes. He was met with Richie’s eyes already focused on him. The other boy didn’t look angry at Eddie’s lack of faith, he was amused, biting his lip not to laugh. 

“Okay, sure, say whatever you wanna say, this shit is just too bizarre not to be fate, is all I’m saying,” he provoked, shrugging in the process and winking at the smaller boy. Eddie only huffed in annoyance and rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore Richie’s provocation.  

“Yeah-” he coughed and bit his lip. “-did we come here to talk or...” he trailed off, gazing up at Richie.    
“I’m not going to fuck you on out first date, I’m a gentleman,” Richie sang with sarcasm lacing his voice, making Eddie moan in embarrassment. He swatted the other boy’s arm and let go of his hand, sitting up. He felt his face heating up and turned his back to Richie, not wanting to be laughed at. He could already hear all the stupid words coming out of the motormouth but instead he got pulled back into a solid chest and embraced by long, strong arms. He felt even more heat traveling to his face, but then there was also happiness swelling in his chest, so he let himself enjoy the moment of closeness. “We still need to talk,” Richie murmured into his ear, making Eddie shiver.  

He was painfully aware of it, so he nodded but instead of saying something he just curled himself into a ball and pressed harder into Richie’s body, trying to hide from the world. The taller boy sighed but didn’t say a word, instead lowering his head into Eddie’s hair and pressing a light, almost-not-there kiss onto his forehead.  

“Later,” Eddie sighed in content, his body shivering and tingling from all the attention he was getting, not at all used to it. He was touch starved, every inch of his body physically aching for Richie to touch him. He didn’t want to seem too clingy though, so he remained silent.  

 

It felt like the world stopped. It was just the two of them, sitting in a guestroom in the middle of a party, talking about their likes and dislikes, stealing a kiss here and there. Oh and of course, taking pictures. 

“You just look so cute, let me!” Eddie begged, his camera hanging safely on his neck. The boys were having a pretty heavy make out session, Richie’s hands stroking warm skin of Eddie’s back, arms securely wrapped around his middle, while the other boy laid on his chest, holding the taller one’s cheeks in both of his hands, squeezing them from time to time. He felt save in that room. In the house of a person he barely knew, with another person he just met. It was surreal. When Eddie let himself think about it, his insides were doing this weird thing, kind of twisting but not in unpleasant way. Maybe it was excitement, maybe fear, or maybe something in between, he didn’t dare guessing. 

Anyway, Eddie’s tongue just finished exploring the insides of Richie’s mouth and his eyes opened lazily, only to expose him to the most adorable sight ever. The boy was smiling softly from beneath him, his lips were a little bit swollen and shining with spit from all the kissing, matching nicely his red cheeks and hazed eyes. His hair was everywhere, a bit falling into his eyes, some locks spread on pillows, others curling behind his ears.  

Eddie bit his lip and motioned for the boy to wait, he then sprinted out of the room and came back a few minutes later to a really confused and hurt-looking Richie. He didn’t have to explain himself, because the camera in his hand was enough for Richie to laugh loudly and throw himself back at the bed. 

“You are impossible!” he shouted from the bed, his eyes closed and mouth spread into a wide toothy grin. He felt the bed dip a bit under Eddie and then the smaller boy was straddling him again. 

“You’re not here to suck my face, there is a portfolio waiting to be turned in, so you better work bitch!” Eddie shouted and snapped a few pictures of Richie laughing, then glaring playfully and then giggling sweetly, hiding behind his hands.  

“Why the fuck did I agree to do it?” The taller boy asked, still chuckling silently. This question, even though having been meant to be funny, made Eddie stop in his tracks. He slowly lowered the camera from his face to reveal his puzzled look.  

“Yeah, actually why?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have such problems with writting Eddie!  
> Richie comes to my mind without a struggle but Eddie is so much more complicated! I'll do him justice, I promise, just give me some time!
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed that! Sorry for the long wait, I was abroad without my computer and wasn't able to write anything :/  
> Love you guys!  
> (find me on tumblr! it's richieshawaiianshirts)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well yeah, I'm not dead and neither is this fic, ha!  
> Sorry for the AGES you've been waiting for and THANK YOU for the wonderful (as always) reactions to the last chapter! It truly means a lot! 
> 
> Have fun reading this chapter! The next one is going to be the last one (I mean, I guess, there may be 8 chapters instead of 7 eventually, but we'll see about that!)

It was stupid of them, freakishly so, to get so lazy and close their eyes even for a moment. They had roughly a couple of hours to finish Eddie’s portfolio, not to mention he still had to go print and laminate it. Yet, there they were, resting on top of Bill guest room’s bed and talking about everything and anything, as if the world and time didn’t exist. They could see only each other, forgot about nagging voices in the backs of their heads screaming at them to start working.

“Yeah, actually why?” Eddie asked, a shy smile on his lips. He took Richie’s hand into his own and looked down at it, playing with his long fingers decorated by black rings. The other boy’s hand was at least two times bigger than his own and it was making his insides twist a little bit- in a pleasant way it is. 

Richie huffed out a laugh and turned Eddie around, manhandling him easily. Eddie gasped at this movement and pouted, swatting Richie’s arm in the process. 

“You fucker, I’m not some porcelain doll you can move however you want!” he shouted. His voice was laced with laughter, but Richie could get a hint. He bit his lip and ducked his head down, extending his arms towards Eddie to beckon him closer. The smaller boy hummed contently and scooted forward- close enough for their knees to touch, but not so close they couldn’t look at each other. Richie smiled and planted a kiss on the tip of Eddie’s nose, making him squeak and smile fondly.

“I’m not sure,” The taller boy whispered sweetly, answering the question that hung between them. He sighed and looked up, meeting Eddie’s gaze. They were both vibrating with nerves, their bodies producing so much heat in the process that windows started to fog over. Eddie squeezed Richie’s hand in encouragement and cocked his head to the side, focusing on constellations of freckles the boy had on his face. “It just really seemed like a fun idea, you know? I like trying new things, and being a model? Damn, that’s somethin’ I could put on my CV,” Eddie snorted and fluttered his eyelashes a couple times, so smitten with the other boy it was getting too much. “Plus, this real cute boy asked me to do it, so there was no way I could have said no.”

“Awhh, you think I’m cute, Rich? That’s so out of character for you!” Eddie sneered and Richie gasped, putting a hand on his heart and throwing himself on the bed.

“Are you, Edward Spaghettward, making fun of my confession?! That’s so fucking rude, young man,” he replied in a dramatic, English accent. They both snorted and Eddie launched himself at Richie, putting all his weight on the other’s body. The taller one sighed contently and wrapped his arms around Eddie’s middle, humming a tune the boy focused on. He furrowed his eyebrows, making small creases appear on his forehead, and stuck his tongue out, thinking intently.

“...We don't have to take our clothes off, to have a good time...?” Eddie sang quietly, listening to Richie’s heartbeat while resting his head on top of his chest. He could feel Richie nodding his head and then heard him singing too.

“We could dance and party all night, And drink some cherry wine, o-ooh.”

“Oh my _fucking God,_ Richie!” a loud shriek could be heard after an hour or so from behind the closed doors of Bill Denbrough’s guest room. Anyone listening could easily mistake it with a moan, a lustful exclamation of a lover’s name, but if you listened carefully, there was irritation clear as crystal in the voice calling out. “We fucking fell asleep, you asshole! Wake up! Wake up, Richie!”

The other boy was being roughly woken up, his heart beating hard and fast, threatening to jump out of his chest. His vision was blurry, the glasses he was wearing must have fallen off while he was sleeping, and his perception was still a little bit off, given he was just having the greatest dream of all. 

“Okay, OKAY, I’M AWAKE YOU DOUCHE CANOE!” he shouted, standing up from the bed and observing his companion walking around, well, more like running around, looking for his stuff frantically while putting on socks. “Eds, hey, what’s going on?” Richie asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Eddie didn’t answer, instead he took out his phone and began to hurriedly type on it, as if his life depended on it. The taller one observed his friend for a little bit longer before making two big steps across the room and standing right in front of him. “Eds, hey, Eddie!” 

“It’s fucking 10:30 p.m.! We are never going to make it, oh my dearest God! We still have to print the photos and laminate them and I have to choose the best ones and-and arrange them to make a good story-it's impossible, we fucking fell asleep, Richie!” 

Eddie was breathing hard, his small body shaking from all the stress he was going through, fingers holding onto the phone tightly and eyes watering slightly. Richie instantly crouched down and pushed the other boy to sit down, placing his hands on his knees to provide him some gesture of comfort. He watched Eddie’s eyes nervously flicking from Richie to his camera, then back to Richie and again to the camera- back and forth before his head was stopped and held in place by his partner’s strong hand. 

“Hey, look at me. Breath Eds, just breathe, okay?” Richie commanded him, receiving a short nod in response. He didn’t know what to do, he had never before dealt with a panic attack and this thing seemed like it was becoming one. He stood up and then sat down next to Eddie, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. Eddie’s ragged breaths kept coming out of his body, becoming a bit calmer with every passing minute. Time wasn’t on their side, not at all, and Richie had to find a way to make them win the race with it. “Listen honey,” the nickname felt sweet and tender on his tongue, making him smile a bit, despite the shitty situation they were in. “You need to calm down, okay? We don’t have much time, I know, but we’re gonna manage just fine, yeah?” Eddie nodded his head once, twice, then blinked a couple of times and gripped Richie’s forearms, holding tightly onto them. He hissed out a breath, trying to calm himself down. “You’re doing great, darling. I’m gonna make us manage, do you trust me?”

“Y-yeah,” Eddie rasped out, burying his head between the front of Richie’s shirt. 

The city was really dark, illuminated only by street lamps here and there, when they got out of Bill’s house. They had roughly an hour to accomplish their task, or else Eddie would fail miserably, even after all of their hard work. Cold wind was blowing, making the smaller boy walk closer to Richie, hiding slightly behind his tall posture. The Human Shield only smiled at it and grabbed Eddie’s hand, intertwining their fingers together and walking just a tad faster. Their tempo was already impossible, Eddie’s short legs were having some trouble trying to catch up with the giant boy, but he put all the energy his body possessed into it and assiduously continued to go, go, go. 

“The printing point is just around the corner, they have some computers too so I may be able to collate the photos there,” Eddie murmured, looking straight ahead of himself, not risking being distracted by Richie and his beautiful face. No, it was no time for sentiments, he had work to do, and not just any work- his future life depended on it, rather literally. 

Richie nodded, not brave enough to say something while seeing Eddie in such state, all anxious and ready to kill someone, just to get his way. He was a small, shivering ball of determination and purpose. It flowed out of him, illuminated everything around in a glorious glow and Richie felt even more smitten with the boy.

Just as Eddie said, the printing point was located just around the corner. It was a nice place, decorated to look like an Internet Café from the 90’s. There were a few vending machines in the back, three tables with working computers and a counter with a giant printer, the expensive looking kind. Eddie sighed in relief when they got inside and he spotted a boy with curly, blonde hair wandering around the place. 

“Stanley! Thank God it’s you!” he shouted and let go of Richie’s hand, quickly moving towards Stanley. He was a tall man with handsome face, his lanky, porcelain-delicate form was tightly hugged by khaki’s he was wearing and a white, spotless shirt. He looked unamused, like he was expecting Eddie to storm into the room for some time now. “This is Richie, he is my-um, well, my model,” he stammered out and blushed furiously, not looking back at Richie. The tallest of them all waved at them awkwardly and remained silent, not wanting to cause any more chaos. 

“Hi,” Stanley said coldly, staring Richie down and sighing. He looked back at Eddie and gestured towards one of the computers. “This one’s all set up for you, better hurry though, my boss is not going to be happy if he finds out I’ve kept this place open so long after closing hours.”

“Sir yes, sir!” Eddie saluted and practically ran to do his thing.

It took Eddie about forty minutes to choose what he wanted to put inside his portfolio, arrange it perfectly and pass Stan the memory stick that had it all inside. The photos were being printed out and they still had about half an hour to get it to his professor. It seemed like everything was going quite smoothly and Eddie could finally sit-down peacefully and relax a bit. 

All this time Richie was being as quiet as a mouse, to this extent that Eddie had to check a few times if he didn’t just abandon him to do something better with his time. But every time Richie was still there, sitting on a small chair in the corner, his head resting against the wall and eyes closed. The thing is, he was just as nervous as Eddie was. He didn’t want the smaller boy to suddenly realize all this work has gone to shit because Richie was just too plain, too ugly, too little. 

But it didn’t happen, the only noises he could hear during Eddie’s work-time were the clicks of his mouse and little sighs whenever Stan reminded him about the time passing. 

“You did great, Eds,” he whispered to the boy when he came closer. Eddie only smiled, lowered his head to rest it against Richie’s forehead and started breathing evenly, deeply. Richie looked at him through squinted eyes, enjoying the proximity of their faces. He could feel heat radiating off Eddie, all the nerves slowly evaporating. “Come here,” he continued in a shushed tone, not sure if the other boy wanted Stanley to hear them. 

It was really calm outside, the not-so-cold wind blowing lightly and dancing around with various papers and leaves, creating a beautiful picture for the couple sitting inside of a printing point’s building, cuddled together on a small chair. They were so close to finishing everything up and one question was slowly getting harder and harder to ignore, boring into their minds, making itself present. 

What was going to happen when it was over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed that one!   
> Leave a comment if you want, it's the best feeling in the world to read your opinions on my work!
> 
> Find me on tumblr! (it's richieshawaiianshirts)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *not yet proofread! i'm too giddy to post it!!*

“What happens now?” Richie asked him after the door of Eddie’s teacher’s door closed behind them. They were somewhere in the middle of the city, the wind blew delicately, making the taller boy shiver a little bit. Eddie, on the other hand, was all flushed and hot from the adrenaline running in his veins, pumping the blood faster. He looked at Richie and smiled brightly, tugging him closer by his jacket’s sleeves. He climbed onto his tippy toes and placed a small kiss in the other boy’s nose.  

It took them about fifteen minutes to get to Mr. Galdour and give him Eddie’s portfolio, the boy shaking with excitement and fear, his cheeks flushed pink and a stupid smile spreading across his freckled face. Richie stood awkwardly behind him and smiled sheepishly when the smaller boy introduced him as his _Muse._ It felt surreal, making his head spin and heart feeling a tiny bit heavier than normally. It was an impulse really, to take Eddie’s hand into his own in that moment, making the teacher smile knowingly and Eddie’s cheeks turn even redder.  

After a short chat with the teacher they said goodbye and that led them to standing there, looking into each other's eyes. Richie wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, what Eddie was going to say or do. To be honest, he didn’t expect a happy ending. He was so used to things blowing up in his face that this _wonderful_ day had to end in misery and pain for it to feel real. He thought that the boy would shrug, shake his hand and it would end just like it started- really fast and confusingly. But what he didn’t think would happen was for Eddie to smile sweetly at him, place a kiss on his nose and take his hand into his very own.  

“Now we sleep, you Mumpsimus,” the boy giggled and placed a soft, almost-not-there-kiss on Richie’s cheek. He seemed like a different person and it hit Richie like a truck- the realization he had just met Eddie’s soft and calm side, the one he may be sometime lucky enough to encounter on a Sunday morning, preferably curled under on a sofa while watching breakfast television. 

There wasn’t really much he could do after such statement so he just laughed loudly and let his motormouth do the job. 

“Me _what exactly?”_  

 

Eddie woke up around evening. It was already partly dark outside, he could hear sirens of ambulances behind his closed windows and there was something insanely hot next to him, not pun intended. It took him a minute to figure out what it was, he thought about a dog, but he didn’t own one so it wasn’t an option. A hot water bottle was a wrong guess too, because that thing was enormous and covered a big part of his small body. Then he heard a soft, amused laugh next to his ear and his eyes shot open with realization.  

Next to him laid an angel. He had porcelain skin with dark freckles on every inch of it, making him want to trace it with his finger, connect the dots that, without doubt, created a masterpiece. The angel’s hair was pulled into a high, messy bun that left his ear uncovered and sticking out in a funny way, making the smaller boy huff out a laugh. He was looking at Eddie with adoration in his eyes, half of his face funnily squished into a pillow. His body was long and lanky with some muscles visible under the skin and a small belly sticking out of his boxers. He looked really soft and ethereal, almost unreal, but at the same so, so fucking real Eddie could feel his heart clenching painfully.  

“Don’t move,” Eddie mumbled and dragged his exhausted body out of bed. He was an artist, someone created to capture beauty and beauty, to never rest when there was inspiration stirring in his gut, making him feel electric. He was so tired, but Richie’s unremarkable looks were too much to handle.  

“What?” Richie replied and tried to prop himself on his elbow. His expression was a little bit panicked. Eddie had learned that it was something that would happen when the boy wasn’t in control of the situation, so he expected him to destroy the scene. That’s why; 

“PLEASE DON’T MOVE!” Eddie shrieked and franticly looked around, searching for his camera that was hidden underneath his neatly folded clothes. He took it was a hushed ‘Aha!’ and came back to Richie. The taller boy smiled lazily, really pleased with how the events were unfolding. For a minute he was terrified, he thought Eddie wanted to leave or something stupid like that, but when he came back in those _adorable_ pink boxers with flamingos on them and a white t-shirt on, his delicate fingers clutching hard onto his, _oh so precious_ , camera, he knew what exactly was happening.  

Maybe it was weird, but he got used to the click of the camera and when he realized that Eddie won’t take pictures of him, as much as he did during the previous day, his heart skipped a beat. He loved the view of his companion focusing so hard and putting his body into various, for sure not comfortable, positions only to get The Picture.  

“I thought ya already finished the portfolio, Eddie-o,” he said in a teasing tone and smiled cheekily. Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed in mock annoyance only to put his camera back and jump into the bed. He got closer to the taller one and Richie thought that he wanted to cuddle, but then he felt fingers digging into his sides and tickling him restlessly.  

“First of all, don’t call me that, Crappy Bag of Crapbag!-” 

“What is it with you and those- stop Eddie, oh my god- ridiculous names?!” Richie interrupted him. His face turned a deep shade of red and he laughed hysterically and so loud that Eddie was sure his neighbor would tell him off, but he decided that it wasn’t important.  

“-second of all, I’m going to take pictures of your stupid mug whenever I fucking want to!” he shouted, his voice laced with laughter and giddiness. And yeah, maybe that statement indicated that Eddie wanted to spend _so much more_ time with Richie, and perhaps the taller boy smiled even wider after that statement, but neither of them said anything, deciding to let the events live their own lives.  

 

 _Six months later_  

 

He was so nervous he wanted to puke. His palms were as sweaty, as his ass after an intense yoga session and there was so little time for him to get his nerves under control and go greet the crowd.  

The gallery was full with fancy dresses people, every single one of them was gathered there to see the new display of the City’s New Promising Photograph. Calm, sweet music was playing from the speakers in every room, loud enough to set the mood but not too loud, so everyone could talk and contemplate the utter beauty of photographs. His photographs. 

It took his teacher a month to grade all the portfolios, and when the lecture where he was going to finally give them back had taken place, everyone had gotten their works back but Eddie. Mr. Galdour asked him to stay after the lecture because he had some questions about his commission.  

Well, if you asked Eddie what he wanted to do in that exact moment, he would probably answer with “I wanted to choke myself to death with a hair band that a girl next to me had tangled on her ring finger” or something along those lines. He was terrified, truly and honest to God terror-stricken with the vision of him failing, even after all the effort he had put into it.  

The lecture lasted whole eternity, but when it finally did end, the boy wanted nothing else but for it to last some more. He dragged his scared body to the front of the room and was met with his teacher’s... glassy eyes.  

Eddie furrowed his eyebrows and bit his lower lip, then glanced at his portfolio that Mr. Galdour was holding. He had a really delicate grip, almost like he didn’t want to destroy Eddie’s work and that’s what made Eddie’s stomach twist and color appear on his face.  

“Tell me Eddie, what would you say if I told you that I organized a display for your photos?” he asked, smiling in a way that only proud father smiles at you. Eddie’s eyes appeared to have grown two times as big and his mouth hang open while he listened to what his professor wanted to tell him. “I’ve been teaching here for the last few years Edward, and I have never seen anything even half as emotional, as this is. This? Eddie, this is pure art.” 

That day he didn’t come back to his apartment. He went straight to Richie’s place, his very own boyfriend’s house in the suburbs. He lived there with Beverly and Ben, third wheeling at its finest most of the time. Eddie took three buses to get there and then run some more, his body bursting with all the excitement accumulated inside of it. He didn’t knock, their doors were always open for him.  

Richie was sitting on the sofa, eating some homemade cookies that Ben had probably prepared earlier, and watching crappy daytime TV. He didn’t have any classes that day, given it was a Saturday and only Eddie was suicidal enough to attend weekend lectures, so he was still wearing his pajamas. He turned around when he heard the doors closing and smiled widely when his eyes met Eddie. Richie’s whole body relaxed minutely at the sight of his, oh my it sounds so perfect, _boyfriend._    
 

“Hey-lo my love, what brings you to Tozier-Marsh-Hanscome household?” he asked while putting the cookies away. He wanted to stand up and greet Eddie decently but the other one wasn’t having any of it. He tossed his bag away, then jacket and kicked his shoes off while still in the corridor and then literally jumped on Richie. “Woah!” the taller one shouted while wrapping his hands around Eddie’s waist, his boyfriend’s strong legs circling his hips and pressing them deliciously close together.  

“He loved it,” Eddie whispered and pressed a hot kiss on Richie’s lips. They kissed for a bit, Richie’s head swimming with confusion. He pulled away from the boy and looked at him with furrowed eyebrows and love, so much love visible in his soft eyes. He clutched his lover’s t-shirt tightly and denied letting go of him. “Mr. Galdour, he-he said he loved it! Oh my god!” he shouted, almost like only in that moment did he understand what happened. “He was like ‘That’s the shit, I love it!’ I mean-not exactly like that, but he wants-” Richie made him shut up, slowed down his brain a little bit by kissing his mouth hard and passionately. “-he wants to organize a display of my pictures!” he emphasized, pinching his boyfriend’s cheek and smiling like a madman.  

“What? Fuck, that’s wonderful, babe!”  

“Babe?” Eddie mocked while chuckling and biting his lip. Richie only rolled his eyes and kissed him once more. It was so easy to change subjects with Eddie, most of the times he wasn’t even aware when they stopped talking about one thing and moved one another. It could start with talking about Trump, go through Beverly’s newest haircut and end with Eddie complaining about the way Richie sat, yelling ‘Your spine is going to be askew!”  

“Yeah, babe,” Richie scoffed. He was so thrilled for his lover, he wanted to dance and throw him in the air but also to kiss every inch of his perfect body and worship him till the end of days. They have never gone further than some groping and maybe a few handjobs here and there, but Rich could feel the tingle in all of his nerve endings, his brain started to slow down and he wanted nothing more than to put his mouth on Eddie. Oh god, that was a majestic sight, even if just in his own head. “I wanna-” he tried to say, but his boyfriend groaned in annoyance and went straight back to kissing him. 

“I want _you,_ " the smaller one moaned into his ear and curled himself around Richie, just like a grapevine. Richie couldn’t do much, he just gasped in surprise and let his legs carry them both into his bedroom. It took some complicated maneuvering, especially when they faced stairs on their way, but he somehow managed to get them on his bed in one piece.  

It was hot, sticky and it felt so, so good. He stripped Eddie off his clothes and then prepped his strong, strong body with kisses, not missing even an inch of it, making the boy gasp and writhe around fisting the sheets. His mouth was open into an ‘O’ and Richie couldn’t help but feel pride swelling in his chest. That day he went down on his boyfriend, made him feel like he was the most wanted man in the world. And he was exactly that for Richie Tozier. 

 

Reality hit him like a truck. Well, not exactly reality but his one and only boyfriend that punched his arm a tad too hard. 

“Ow, stop it you fucker!” he grimaced and started rubbing the place, his cheeks a little bit hot from all the memories that clouded his brain not a minute earlier. Richie only grinned in response and cocked his head to the side. 

“Is it your unconditional love for me, or are you getting less creative with those nicknames, sir?” Richie snorted, trying to pull off a British accent but failing miserably. Eddie rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Oh wow, no comeback? You must be really fuckin’ nervous, are ya, bug?” 

“Don’t call me that,” he replied, but there was no bite in his voice. Eddie looked above Richie’s shoulder to see himself how many people came to see his exhibit and was so, so shocked when he discovered that, the fuck, there was even more of them? They were holding fancy glasses with champagne inside of them and chatting lively among themselves, looking at some of the photos. Not all of them were available for viewing, not yet at least. They were covered with a red fabric, keeping the mood in the room a little bit mysterious.  

“Earth to peanut!” Richie waved his hand in front of Eddie’s face and the shorter boy focused his attention on him. He looked beautiful in a fitted suit with a flowery pattern and a black bow, so ideally fitting together, it was almost shocking Richie put this outfit together by himself. Eddie could feel some of his habits rubbing on his lover and it was really hilarious to watch Rich carefully fold his clothes or change sneakers because they didn’t fit his tattoos. Truly hysterical. “Okay, listen up, I’m not good with this motivation shit, but like, I really want you to stop stressing yourself, ya know?” Richie murmured, his voice deep and calm. They knew from experience that it worked wonders in calming Eddie down. “You are a wonder, Eddie. You are so fucking talented, so beautiful, so smart and witty and sometimes I catch myself thinking if I’m not delusional, if you’re not only a dream,” he carried on whispering, making the outside world not worth listening to.  

Eddie felt really emotional listening to him. Yeah, Richie may have been an earful most of the time, but when it came to emotions and feelings, he was nearly impossible to communicate with. During those last weeks Eddie had learned his ways of making him talk, but it was still really hard to make him reveal his real thoughts without laughing if off.  

“So please, please, let them see this Eddie. Let them know that not only your photos are wonderful, that you yourself are a piece of art!”  

And with that, he kissed Eddie quickly and pushed him towards a makeshift scene, slapping his butt on the way. Eddie turned around, really stunned but laughing nonetheless. Eddie took few calming breaths and took the stairs leading to the stage. He cleared his throat and bopped the microphone, making all of those people look at him.  

“Hi everyone,” he said, a little bit shyly but with a cheerful tone. Everyone started clapping and he spotted his friends standing in the very front, emotional support group and all that. There was Stan holding Mike’s hand in his, the boy’s eyes already a little bit glassy. He had told him earlier he was proud of him and they both cried for a solid hour before Mike came back from the gym. When he made them hot cocoa and listened to the reason why he found them sobbing on the sofa, he started crying too. That led to a hysterical night with “Mean Girls” and “Legally Blonde” playing on repeat and them eating candy, just like it used to be in high school.  

Beverly sat on one of the chairs in the second row, Ben, Bill and Audra all beside her. They were smiling reassuringly and showing him thumbs up. They had gotten to know each other a little better in the duration of the past weeks and Eddie was really glad that it had happened. They all functioned together really well and he was planning to introduce Stan and Mike to the party. He desperately wanted them to like each other.  

And of course, there was Richie. He chose to stand further in the back, directly in front of Eddie though. He wanted his boyfriend to look him in the eye during this whole thing and well, Eddie liked that idea very much.  

“I’m not going to talk a lot tonight, I’ve just had a glass of wine and well, I didn’t make me any more confident, even though my mom always said that it works wonders,” he started off and everyone laughed. Richie only smiled lazily. He had heard the speech hundreds of times before and he was the one that promised everyone would “Laugh their asses off Eds!” 

“So, I’m going to tell you a story tonight. It’s going to be about a boy, a pretty neat boy with great ambitions and so on, and so on. He was a photography major,” he made an unimpressed face then and everyone laughed once more. “And he had nearly failed. He couldn’t find any inspiration, you know? Those models in classes just weren’t doing it for him and BuzzFeed had a really crappy list of ‘Wonderful places to see’. But one day, exactly one day before the deadline for his portfolio, he had med an angel, a muse.” 

People were listening to him really intently, nobody dared to say a word. Eddie felt a little bit overwhelmed by this, so he looked back at Richie for some support. His boyfriend smiles at him reassuringly and motioned for him to continue, blinking three times what meant ‘You’re doing amazing, sweetie’- their own inside joke after Ariana’s “Thank u, next”.  

He took a deep breath and continued.  

“It was a boy, no, scratch that, a disaster on legs. He wore so many colors and patterns- it should be disgusting! But well, it wasn’t? He looked eternal, like a literal angel and the boy kinda started crushing on him that same second. He asked the boy to be his model and he must have been as crazy, as his outfit suggested because he agreed in a heartbeat.” 

“They spent the whole day together, taking photos, having fun and well-” he paused for a minute, letting himself look straight at Richie. “-falling in love.” 

The room all cooed and he could see the couples getting closer to each other, almost like on an instinct. He could feel himself blushing, but what was more important- Richie's eyes were full of love, his lips spread in a huge grin. Eddie giggled and shook his head, trying to get back into character. 

“As you might have guessed, that boy was me. I was terrified, out of my comfort zone and so, so stressed I’m sure my life got shorter by 2 years. And the boy? You are going to see him today a lot, he is on every single photo, his beauty is going to crash your soul, so be careful.” 

“I got once asked, by the same person, if I would do it all over again if I had a choice. I answered in a heartbeat- yes. There is no other place than I would rather be than in his arms, than lying in bed at six in the evening and binging TV shows. I have no doubt that this is where I’m supposed to be, that we are supposed to be.” 

It all ended with Eddie crying a little bit, the fabric being taken off the photographs and everyone clapping. But Eddie didn’t care, not really. He went straight to his boyfriend, well, more like ran to him, and kissed him. 

It was like their first kiss- a wildfire combined with melted chocolate and soft blanket. His heart was racing and he was so, so sure it was going to explode when Richie giggled into his mouth and brought him even closer to his chest. 

That night every important person from all the United States was in a museum in the middle of the city. You could hear music coming from inside and if you listened closely, you could catch laughter of that one photographer that had been all over the news that was laughing with a boy you could easily recognize from the magazines.  

The streets were bright with all the lights, but one of them was shining a little bit brighter. It read “PURE ART- EDWARD KASPBRAK’S PHOTOGRAPHY DISPLAY” and everyone wanted to get a closer look.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, it's been a wild ride! I hope you guys enjoy this little fanfiction of mine and that I gave Reddie and their love justice! I just really love my soft sons so much!  
> Let me know what you thought! Did you like the ending? What about the whole fic?! Tell me, tell me, tell me! I love hearing (reading) your reactions!!!  
> I'm so thankful for all the love I've received from you! I love you all so much, thanks for all the support!   
> Until the next fic!
> 
> Find me on Tumblr! (it's richieshawaiianshirts)

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me if you liked it!  
> The next part is coming up soon! :)
> 
> (Find me on Tumblr- richieshawaiianshirts)


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